Parshat Reeh

When the lord your god enlarges your territory as he has spoken to you,

And you say, 'let me eat meat,' when your appetite craves eating meat,

Wherever you appetitite's craving may be, you shall eat meat.

Should the place be far away from you...

(Devarim 12:20-21)

 

The Connection Between "Expansion of Boundaries", Distancing of "the Place", and the Appetite for Meat

"When the Lord enlarges your territory, as He has promised you, and you say, "I shall eat some meat" - teaches that man yearns [to satisfy] his appetite only upon excess expansion, "The lion does not roar unless he has a vessel full with meat" (Berachot 32). Therefore He said: "When the Lord enlarges your territory" - this will lead to the tearing away of the mask of shame from your face to the point where you outspokenly declare "I shall eat some meat". This is somewhat similar to the throwing off of the yoke of heaven and to investigate the place of sacrifices. The reason for all this is "the place where the Lord has chosen to establish his name is too far from you" - the closer one is to God's sanctuary, the greater is his fear of the Kingdom of Heaven, as is written, "And you shall be in awe of My sanctuary. "This means that the sanctuary will be the source of your awe of the Kingdom of Heaven. "The place... is too far from you" distances God from your inner organs, and therefore you will constantly have a voracious appetite, and you will not be ashamed to say "I shall eat some meat", so I permit it to you, and "you may slaughter from your cattle... as I have instructed you" - not at all times, but only occasionally, when the appetite is overwhelming.

(Kli Yakar, Devarim 12:21)

 

The Torah delivers a veiled admonition regarding the eating of meat; only after "And you say: I want to eat meat, because your appetite craves eating meat" - do we read, "You may slaughter and may eat". The only way to halt your inclination is by moral control, and this control is still beyond you; it is still needed for closer circles. (In his famous essay on the utopian vision of vegetarianism, Rav sees the ideal future, when men will be companion to animals. In this sentence, Rav Kook says that the spiritual forces essential for stopping slaughter of animals for food are currently needed for improvement of man's relations to his fellow man.) And also the distant perfection also necessitates - after the fall (The reference is to the Great Flood, during which man developed an appetite for flesh.) - physical effort, and the replenishing of this [the physical effort] occasionally demands meat nourishment.

 (Rav Kook: Tallelei Orot, Chap. 8)

 

 

To argue, not to split

Jeremy Weil

This dvar Torah is dedicated to the memory of my and mentor

who died nine and half years ago.

Parashat Reeh was his bar-mitzvah Parasha.

 

Our parasha begins with the following three sentences:

See, I set before you today blessing and curse: the blessing, when you heed the command of the Lord your God with which I charge you today; the curse if you heed not the command of he Lord your God and swerve from the way that I charge you             today, to go after other gods which you did not know.

The first word, "See", is written in the singular, whereas succeeding second person verbs are written in the plural. The commentators explain that the blessing and the curse are given to the entire Jewish nation, but the decision which path to chose is in the hands of every individual; there is freedom of choice.

According to Nechama Leibowitz, the Torah uses the concept "sight" ("re'iyah") in three senses:

In Bereishit, regarding light: "And God saw that it was good" - meaning that God saw and that He was happy with his work. Similarly, Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch writes in his commentary on the opening sentence of our parasha:

"See" - this is not a teaching (Torah) which you must accept because of another's trustworthiness; I turn directly to you, on the basis of all that you have seen with your own eyes...

In a second sense - preceding the flood it is written: "And the Lord saw that the evil of the human creature was great on the earth and that every scheme of his heart's devising was only perpetually evil." This is a different kind of sight - one of suffering and empathy. In this sense, Moshe asks that in every sighting we feel the suffering of others even if the reason for their distress is that they chose to err and sin.

But there is a third connotation: Prior to the birth of Yitzchak, it is written "And the Lord appeared [caused Himself to be seen] to Abram". This 'seeing' seems to approach "reached an agreement" or "made a promise". Moshe here is saying to the Children of Israel: God promised to bring you to the Land of Israel. God did his part, and now it is up to you to carry out yours. If you so do there will be a blessing, and if not, a curse.

Do we really have free will? Determinist scientists opine that everything is predetermined according the laws of physics and statistics. If this be so, why is there reward and punishment? Everyone acts according to clear laws and therefore they have no choice. Karl Marx argued that in economics, too, the source of all economic behavior depends upon one's social and economic class.

People behave as though there is no choice, saying such things as "it's fate" or "I cannot control my anger" or "there's nothing to be done" or "it's written in the stars". They should have read Shakespeare, who wrote (Julius Caesar I, ii, 134): "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in our selves". The Torah wrote this many years before: "See, I set before you today blessing and curse". It is all written clearly - you have the power to decide. Nothing will prevent you from choosing the good or the bad. We are responsible for our decisions because there resides inside us a soul capable of deciding.

In Tractate Aboth (3:19) is written "All is foreseen and freedom of choice is given". God's knowledge of the future does not deny us freedom of choice. (Rambam, in Laws of Repentance, Chap. 5, deals with this issue).

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch maintains that it is possible to learn this same lesson from the mountains themselves. Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eval are next to each other. Both have the same type of soil, receive the same rain and dew in equal amounts; yet Mt. Gerizim has a gentle slope, is green with many fruit trees, in contrast to Mt. Eval, which is steep, barren, growing nothing. So it is with human beings. Two people, same childhood, same education - yet they are able to decide to go in completely opposite directions.

Rav Hirsch goes so far as to say that the Torah is not dealing with reward and punishment in the accepted sense, but that the blessing is the Torah and the curse is the very choosing not to live according to the Torah. In his opinion, this idea is found in the words themselves. The word "beracha" [blessing] is etymologically derived from "berech" - knee (that organ needed in order to move ahead), from "barak" (creation of electricity from the clouds)… from "peretz" (to burst forth)... from "perek" (to unload a burden)...

K'lalah - derives from "kal"- light (not weighty), "kalil" - empty, sans content, lacking depth, worthless, having no weight,

The opening passage of our parasha is to be read not ". . . the blessing, provided that you hearken to the commandments", but rather "the blessing is that you hearken". The 'hearkening" is itself the blessing. Moshe explains to the Children of Israel why they should choose to act according the God's laws - "You are children to the Lord your God". You are God's children - He is your closest friend and relative. Therefore even if we should err or sin, we continue to be children of God. If we are all children of the King, we are all princes, and as such we must be models for emulation by all who observe us.

Therefore is it written "You shall not gash yourselves nor shall you make a bald place on the front of your head for the dead". You may not injure yourselves, because you are children of God - you are responsible to God. The Talmud in Yevamot adds a new idea - again, on the national level - "Do not gash yourselves" - you may argue among yourselves, but not to the point of being so enamored of disagreement so as to create "regiments" - intra-communal conflict [Trans. note - the Hebrew root g'd'd' is the root of both "gedid' - to gash, and "g'dud" - a regiment]. Do not be like that good Jew, stranded on an island, who needs two synagogues - one in which he prays, and another to which he dare not draw near. You may not thus behave, because "You are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a treasured people to Him of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth."

All the words in this passage are in the singular, indicating that you shall all be unified. Be holy because God has chosen you, from among all peoples, to be a treasured people.

Perhaps it is fitting that we pray and act in such a manner as to merit a life of free choice; that we be able to hold different - even contradictory - points of view, yet still progress together towards the goal of "a treasured people from all the nations".

Jeremy Weil lives in Beer Sheva, and is a consultant to businesses involved in international trade.

 

Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria says: From where do we know that one should not say: "I am unable to wear sha'atnez", "I am unable to eat pork," "I cannot conduct an incestous relationship." Rather he should say: "I am able! But what can I do? My father in heaven has decreed [prohibitions]." This is the teaching: "I have separated you from the people to be mine!" - one leaves sin and accepts upon himself the kingdom of Heaven.

 (Sifra, Kedoshim, Parasha 10)

                 

 "You are not to eat any abominable thing" - Is Abomination "Royal Decree" Or Is It "Human Nature"?

"Any abominable thing" - Any thing which is abominable to the pure soul, such as that which crawls upon the earth.

(Ibn Ezra, Devarim 14:3)

 

The meaning of 'abomination' is that which human nature finds repulsive. But the term 'any abominable thing' means "everything which I have made abominable to you" -- it is proper that the Jewish soul should consider these abominable, as in "You are to consider it abominable, yes, abominable." One should train himself to distance himself from forbidden foods until his soul is actually disgusted by them. The Sifrei includes in the term 'all abominable things' all that the Torah designates as 'abomination', such as blemished sacrificial offerings, which are called "abomination to God."        

 (Haamek Davar, Devarim 14:3)

 

There shall be no needy among you - For there will never cease to be needy ones in the land: A Promise? A Demand?

Regarding the annulment of loans, it is said: There shall be no needy among you - since the Lord your God will bless you in the land. Yet regarding charity - the commandment of Do not shut your hand... Rather, you must open your hand - it is said: For there will never cease to be needy ones in the land.

The contradiction between the two verses is only imaginary. There shall be no needy among you should not be understood as a promise, but rather as a demand addressed to humans. It is incumbent upon us to prevent the existence of needy people among us by observing the commandments of the annulment of loans and all the other laws of social significance. Without these arrangements, which we are required to follow, the other verse will be realized: For there will never cease to be needy ones in the land. The impoverished do not disappear by themselves, that is to say: A regime containing poverty does not disappear by itself, and its removal cannot be set upon the shoulders of He who opens His hand and satiates the needs of all the living. Rather, God demands of us to see to it that there should be no needy people in the land.

(Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz z"l, He'arot le'Parshiyot Ha'Shavu'a)

 

A Holy People and a Treasured People: Fate, Destiny, or Challenge?

For you are a holy people to the Lord your God: Sanctify yourself with what is permitted you. If some things are permitted and others treated them as prohibited, you are not allowed to treat them as permitted in those others' presence.

(Sifri Re'eh 104)

 

The RaMBaM, of blessed memory, wrote: All families are presumed to be of valid descent, and it is permitted to intermarry with them in the first instance. Nevertheless, should you see two families continually striving with one another, or a family which is constantly engaged in quarrels and altercations, or an individual who is exceedingly contentious with everyone, or is excessively impudent, apprehension should be felt concerning them, and it is advisable to keep one's distance from them, for these traits are indicative of invalid descent. Similarly, if a man always casts aspersions upon other people's descent - for instance, if he alleges that certain families and individuals are of blemished descent and refers to them as being bastards - suspicion is justified that he himself may be a bastard. And if he says that they are slaves, one may suspect that he himself is a slave, since whosoever blemishes others projects upon them his own blemish. Similarly, if a person exhibits impudence, cruelty, or misanthropy, and never performs an act of kindness, one should strongly suspect that he is of Gibeonite descent, since the distinctive traits of Israel, the holy nation, are modesty, mercy, and loving-kindness.

(Tur, Even ha'Ezer 2)

 

You shall be holy, for I am holy... (Vayikra 19:2) You shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I the Lord am your God (Vayikra 20:7). These are supremely exalted commands and goals, yet at the same time no other verses, expressions, or formulations are as dangerous from the standpoint of faith. They can be interpreted - and they have been interpreted –sometimes innocently and sometimes maliciously - as if they are saying that by its very nature, there is something in the Jewish People which infuses it with holiness. This conception frees Jews from responsibility, and grants them confidence in things that a person must never be confident about, because they are matters of goals, purposes, obligations, missions, and program, rather than givens. The transformation of the concept of holiness from being thought of as the role and mission imposed upon the Jewish People to being an intrinsic and inherit trait of the Jewish People - this is a transformation of faith to idolatry...We are commanded to be a holy people, but we not already a holy people.

(Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz, He'arot le'Parshiyot Ha'Shavua, pp. 77-78)

 

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

 

About us

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts that have always been central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It believes that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to support the pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an option but an imperative.

4,500 copies of a 4-page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas via email. Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il.

Shabbat Shalom is available on our website: www.netivot-shalom.org.il

For responses and arranging to write for Shabbat Shalom: pleiser@netvision.net.il